Tag Archives: Lyric Theatre

A Beautiful Noise

A Beautiful Noise
★★★★★

Lyric Theatre

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A Beautiful Noise

A Beautiful Noise

Lyric Theatre

Reviewed – 11th February 2019

★★★★★

 

“A consummate showman, he has the relaxed stage presence that wins us over from the start”

 

‘Legendary’ is one of those words that has lost its meaning in modern life, and I flinch inwardly whenever I hear a living person described as a legend. Besides, by definition, a legend is unverifiable; handed down over the years and eventually accepted as truth. There! That’s my only gripe out of the way. But whilst describing Neil Diamond as a legend is open to question, what is definitely and objectively accepted as truth is his talent as a writer and performer, and his importance as an artist in today’s popular culture. And Fisher Stevens is the entertainer to bring home that fact in this outstanding celebration of Diamond’s career.

It is almost exactly a year since Neil Diamond announced his retirement having been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease: a sad and poignant reality that infuses the evening with extra emotional punch. Diamond himself continues to write and record, but in his stage absence his devoted fans can find solace in “A Beautiful Noise” at the Lyric Theatre.

It begins at the beginning, charting Diamond’s time cooped up in New York’s ‘Brill Building’, home to the likes of Leiber and Stoller, Carole King, Burt Bacharach and other now household names in song writing. His success as a songwriter preceded his success as a singer, notching up hits for Elvis Presley, the Monkees, Cliff Richard, Lulu and even the hard-rockers; Deep Purple.

“If I close my eyes…” sings Stevens in the opening number; ‘Brooklyn Roads’. The pertinence is not lost on the audience; if we close our eyes it is conceivable that we are witnessing Diamond’s miraculous return to the stage, such is the near perfect replication of the vocal timbre and nuances. Stevens’ rich, gravelly baritone even comes with a built-in pitch-bend that create Diamond’s distinctive downwards glissandos. He certainly hits all the right notes, but Stevens also manages to pitch his whole performance perfectly, eschewing sentimentality or idolatry for plain, down-to-earth entertainment. A consummate showman, he has the relaxed stage presence that wins us over from the start.

The classics are all there: ‘Beautiful Noise’, ‘Girl You’ll Be a Woman Soon’, ‘Forever In Blue Jeans’, ‘I Am I Said’, ‘Kentucky Woman’, ‘Song Sung Blue’, ‘Hello Again’, ‘Coming To America’, ‘Desiree’, ‘Sweet Caroline’… and so on and so on. But we are also reminded of the many hits he penned for other singers. Backed by the strong, tight-knit band led by MD Mark Burton at the keys, a rich wall of sound is created, upon which hangs the tapestry of Diamond’s craft. A special mention must be made of the two backing singers, Samantha Palin and Rebecca Cole. Stevens generously brings them to the front line throughout and I’m sure it won’t be long before these two singers are headlining their own shows. Cole gives us a sassy solo performance of Lulu’s hit ‘The Boat That I Row’, but undoubtedly the highlight of the evening is Palin’s soaring rendition of Barbara Streisand’s ‘Woman In Love’, after which she dips sublimely into the duet ‘You Don’t Bring Me Flowers’: a moment of pure musical theatre that dissolves any remaining residue of schmaltz that is often associated with the original.

Often derided by the critics, Neil Diamond has always risen above the flak. It never really bothered him, and it certainly doesn’t bother this audience of loyal fans who treat Fisher Stevens as the Diamond himself. As the show morphs into a fully-fledged rock gig during the second act, we are again reminded of the genre hopping dynamism of his live performances.

“Songs are life in eighty words or less” Neil Diamond once said. This show is his life in eighty minutes or more. A true celebration.

 

Reviewed by Jonathan Evans

 


A Beautiful Noise

Lyric Theatre – shows in June and July

 

Last ten shows covered by the reviewer:
Nice Work if You Can Get It | ★★★★ | Upstairs at the Gatehouse | December 2018
Aspects of Love | ★★★★ | Southwark Playhouse | January 2019
Coming Clean | ★★★★ | Trafalgar Studios | January 2019
Dad’s Army Radio Hour | ★★★★ | Wilton’s Music Hall | January 2019
Dear Elizabeth | ★★ | Gate Theatre | January 2019
Director’s Cut | ★★★ | The Vaults | January 2019
Out of Step | ★★ | Drayton Arms | January 2019
Police Cops | ★★★★ | The Vaults | January 2019
Queens of Sheba | ★★★ | The Vaults | January 2019
Super Happy Story (About Feeling Super Sad) | ★★★★ | The Vaults | January 2019

 

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The Simon & Garfunkel Story – 4 Stars

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Garfunkel

The Simon & Garfunkel Story

Lyric Theatre

Reviewed – 23rd July 2018

★★★★

“Warson’s fluid guitar picking enhances the authenticity and allows the purity of the voices to shine through”

 

For some, it feels like it is the end of an era as Paul Simon begins winding up the final leg of his ‘Homeward Bound – The Farewell Tour’. At seventy-six, and after five decades of writing songs that have become part of the fabric of people’s lives, he describes bringing his performing career to a natural end as “a little unsettling, a touch exhilarating and something of a relief”. Of his many concert appearances over the years he is most fond of the reunion gig in Central Park, New York with his partner and childhood friend Art Garfunkel in 1981. It was a homecoming that served as a reminder of the duo’s unparalleled achievements, and the recreation of this event is the highlight of “The Simon & Garfunkel Story” currently enjoying a nationwide tour.

Dean Elliott’s show is a timely tribute to the two young boys from New York who went on to become the most successful music duo of all time. Given that they had one of the most fractious relationships in music, it should come as no surprise to learn that Simon and Garfunkel almost didn’t make it beyond their time as a rock ’n’ roll duo named ‘Tom and Jerry’. And like with ‘The Beatles’, it is sometimes hard to remember how short lived the partnership was. By 1970 it was all over.

This act ably captures the musical essence. Philip Murray Warson as Paul Simon and Charles Blyth as Art Garfunkel make an accomplished duo. Both possess the vocal strength needed to pull off the material, and the harmonies are spot on. Opening with ‘The Sound of Silence’ all the old favourites are there. The most haunting moments accompany the sparser numbers, such as ‘For Emily, Whenever I May Find Her’ and ‘Cathy’s Song’. Warson’s fluid guitar picking enhances the authenticity and allows the purity of the voices to shine through.

After a while, though, it is a bit like being with old friends who have lost their sparkle. Admittedly this is a tribute act, and nobody is pretending that the charisma and the chemistry of the original could, or should, be replicated. That is not the point. Yet there is a distinct lack of theatricality to the show. The highs and lows of their compelling story are flattened by a monotone, and mainly humourless, delivery of facts between the musical numbers.

The second act does step up a gear, providing many uplifting moments culminating in the iconic ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’. Blyth begins with a whispering falsetto, and later soars, effectively mirroring Art Garfunkel’s performance, while Warson watches from the wings as Paul Simon would have done. It is often the case that artists produce their most heart-stirring material at the height of their turbulence. Simon would come to regret insisting that Garfunkel provide the vocals for that particular song. “Many times on a stage” he once said, “when I’d be sitting off to the side and Artie would be singing Bridge, people would stomp and cheer when it was over, and I would think, ‘That’s my song, man’”

The audience did stomp and cheer, deservedly so; but for me, I just wish that we could have seen some of those troubled waters in the performances.

 

Reviewed by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Betty Zapata

 


The Simon & Garfunkel Story

Lyric Theatre and touring

 

 

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